A genial giant among musicians (1925-1994)
July 13 1994 was a dark day for Hindustani music, when Sangeetacharya K.G. Ginde passed away in Mumbai. He was a genial giant among musicians, with a ready wit and explosive laugh. His shishyas had known him as an uncompromising disciplinarian when it came to music, yet a kind-hearted guru whose gyan was an open book, verily an encyclopedia of Hindustan music, for everyone to refer to.
To his contemporaries at the Maris College of Music, Lucknow (now the Bhatkande Sangeet Vidyapeeth), he had endeared himself as chhotoo (the young one), but as time is the witness, Pt. Ginde was chhotoo only in name, called so in this small coterie of illustrious guru bandhus which included Chidanand Nagarkar, S.C.R. Bhat, Dinkar Kaikini, Govindrao Dantale, Sumati Mutatkar and V.G. Jog. His large, barrel-chested figure strode like a colossus on the music scene.
Krishna Ginde was born in the humble hamlet of Bailhongal in Karnataka on 26 December 1925. Pandit Kumar Gandharva and he had been childhood friends and their genius in music grew apace together. Krishna`s love for music was fostered by his elder brother Ram, whose early guidance spurred Krishna to carve out a career in music under the personal tutelage of Acharya S.N. Ratanjankar, alias Annasaheb. What’s more, he got the opportunity to hear the music of the reigning maestros of the time, for the abode of Annasaheb was like a Mecca of musicians. The bandishes that poured from the prolific pen of Annasaheb found eloquent expression in the mellifluous voice of Ginde. Another binding influence during his formative years was that of his senior guru-bandhu Pt. S.C.R. Bhat, who in course went on to partner him in jugal-gaan of khayal, dhrupad and dhamar gayaki. Krishna Ginde attained the degree of Master of Music (Sangeet Nipun) at Lucknow, winning the coveted gold medal. He stayed on to serve on the faculty of Bhatkande Sangeet Vidyapeeth for eight years. His association with Annasaheb extended over 15 years during which Ginde gratefully assimilated the subtleties and finer nuances of no less than 250 individual bandishes which he could recall at will during his concerts and lecture demonstrations.
Annasaheb remained his guiding spirit until 1974. At his bidding, Ginde joined the music faculty of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan as the vice principal when the late K.M.Munshi founded the Bhavan’s Sangeet Nartan Shikshapeeth in 1946. In 1961, he was invited to join Shreevallabh Sangeetalaya as its Principal and continued to serve the institution to the very end. In recognition of his long illustrious record, the Sangeet Ashram conferred on him the honorary doctorate of Sangeetacharya.
Pt. Ginde was a karmayogi by temperament, who never aspired for honours and titles. Single minded devotion to his guru, Acharya Ratanjankar, was an overriding facet of his personality and deportment as a musician. In 1985, the year of his shashtipoorti (completion of 60 years of life), he rededicated himself to the works and ideas of his guru by establishing the Acharya S.N. Ratanjankar Foundation.
Pt. Ginde then plunged into a phase of frenzied activity for preserving and promoting his guru’s work with a missionary zeal. He saw to it that all the compositions, articles and works of the Acharya, many of which were out of print, were made available to the music community. He recorded most of Annasaheb’s compositions for the archives of Sangeet Research Academy in Calcutta. He believed that the bounty of Hindustani music should be made available to the common man at an affordable price, and put this philosophy into practice in all the activities of the foundation and Sujan Sangeet Samaroh, a music festival. When the curtain came down on the Samaroh in 1994, in which the last of Annasaheb`s works was released by the foundation, Pt.Ginde expressed satisfaction that his life’s mission had been accomplished. He died a happy man becoming one with the ethos of music.